Test Setup

Test Setup

The motherboard we have chosen is the new ASUS X79-Deluxe motherboard. It features a range of high-end features like additional SATA 6Gbps controllers in order to supplement the official supported pair of SATA 6Gbps ones, courtesy of the Intel X79 chipset. There is also a ASUS Wi-Fi GO! onboard with a bundled 2T2R dual-band Wi-Fi antenna (which is identical to those bundled in some of the more recent boards like the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme).

Since DDR3-1866 memory modules are officially supported, we decided to use the four 4GB DDR3-2133 memory modules from the Crucial Ballistix Elite series for a total of 16GB system memory (but run at DDR3-1866). The cooling solution is provided by the Intel Active Thermal Solution RTS2011LC, a closed liquid cooling system. For comparisons, we tested two Sandy Bridge-E processors; they are the Intel Core i7-3960X and Core i7-3970X with the memory modules clocked at DDR3-1866 a well (higher than the official DDR3-1600) to minimize differences in the comparisons and see what impact the updated Core microarchitecture has in store for the Extreme processor series.